


Listen To Your Heart

by SimpleSisypheanTask



Series: The Panther's Gift [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Character of Color, Character(s) of Color, Cute, F/M, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Sad, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-14 23:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7195031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimpleSisypheanTask/pseuds/SimpleSisypheanTask
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A request from tumblr user @spartanlady16, "<em>So T'Challa has a gf who watches the events of Civil War with all the necessary range of emotions. However, her main emotion is just disbelief and fear. So when he arrives back in Wakanda, she just wants to feel his heart beat. To make sure he still there.<em>"</em></em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Listen To Your Heart

"Your father wouldn't want this," Adia said to her stone-faced boyfriend. He was being irrational, acting on his emotions rather than using logic. King T'Chaka would have been ashamed of the son who threw out years of kingly training in favor of seeking vengeance. This wasn't how T'Chaka would rule, and T'Challa knew that. 

Slowly, T'Challa turned to face Adia, his eyes going cold as he replied, " _My father isn't here._ " Without further ado, he left the throne room, clearly done with listening to her beg him to let the Barnes man go and stay with her. 

Adia stared after him. Never had he spoken to her like that, or to _anyone_ for that matter. His grief was morphing him into a man she did not know, and it was frightening her. Would her beautiful Black Panther become a true animal in his quest for revenge against his father's killer? Adia prayed to the gods he didn't, for she knew that she would lose him then. No one could speak sense into a beast if they were unwilling to listen. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Shuri pulled the remote from Adia's dark brown hands, struggling a bit with the older woman. Adia kept her tight grip on the remote, having just seen her boyfriend on the news. He did it. He ran off to kill Barnes. Not once did he think of what horrible ways this would eat at him if he had succeeded. Thank the gods he hadn't! He was lucky - this time. 

"My brother can be a bit of a fool," Shuri said to Adia, sitting beside her. They were in the common room, on the large sofa that sat in the middle of the room facing the fireplace and couch. Adia could remember days where T'Challa would be in Shuri's spot, reading to her about the fantastic lore of their people as she lay her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Those were the days she yearned to have back. "He will realize his mistake soon enough."

For a moment, all Adia could do was stare at the screen that displayed the paused image of T'Challa just as he was ushered into a police car, her tears distorting the image. The Black Panther suit had been stripped from him and placed into the custody. She knew that must have hurt his pride, making him a little more bitter with his situation. First his father was taken away, then the suit that was passed down through generations, modified for him. 

Adia just wanted to be with him, to tell him that this madness would just make it harder to heal. How could he think this would help him? He should be home, with her, with his fam -

"I am sorry," Adia apologized, looking at Shuri. Her warm brown eyes blinked, trying to clear a new well of tears away. "You have lost your father as well, and here I am sitting around crying." She wiped at her eyes. 

Shuri, unable to comprehend how her brother could be such a fool and leave Wakanda like this, just hummed in disagreement. "Your pain and mine are very different. You should not take away validation of your feelings in order to comfort me."

Adia nodded and allowed herself to let go of the sob that nearly choked her, afraid for her beloved T'Challa. He was strong, but not invincible. If he did not return to her, what would she do without him? Half of her heart would be missing. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Adia faced the Dora Milaje, angry that they would not let her pass into T'Challa's chambers. He was avoiding her now, but the bits and pieces she caught from his phone conversation with Tony Stark about meeting were enough to let her know that being arrested wouldn't stop his desperate attempts to kill Barnes. She wanted to scream, throttle him and wrap him in her arms all at once. 

"Let me pass!"

"No," Okoye simply said. "The King does not wish to see anyone tonight. I am sorry, Adia, but you cannot go any further." 

She huffed, backing away. There was no way someone like her, a peace-loving daughter of a tribal leader, could fight the well-trained Dora Milaje. "Tell him that if he continues on this path, there will be nothing but more suffering in the end. If he wants true justice, he will leave the decision on what to do with his father's killer to whoever is in power."

As she went to her own chambers - she and T'Challa were not wed, and for her to not have her own bedroom would raise questions of their virtue - Adia's fear and disbelief grew tenfold. This was escalating far beyond what she could have ever imagined. Upon lying down in her cold, empty bed, Adia realized that it was far too quiet. For the longest time, she could not figure out why. 

And then it hit her. 

She didn't have T'Challa's heartbeat drumming in her ear to lull her to sleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was days before she saw her lover next. The Avengers were split in two, and one half had many members imprisoned. The other half were trying to pick up the pieces of what remained, unsure of how exactly they all were meant to move forward after such an outrageously life-changing disagreement.

One day she was staring out of the window, wondering when their leader would come home, and the next she was faced with said leader standing before her, looking as nervous as he was the day he first asked her to dinner with him. 

" _T'Challa..._ " She hadn't spoken his name in forever. It still tasted sweet on her tongue, even after all this time apart. 

" _Adia..._ " he spoke back, his low tones resonating with her. She wanted to cry in relief. It had been so long since he'd spoken _to_ her. The last time had been so detached, she'd feared he would never say her name so tenderly again. With a single look, she could tell that he hadn't gone through with the plan he set. His spirit was not corrupted by the tainting hate of vengeance. He was still her pure Black Panther she loved so dearly. 

She ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him close. At first, he seemed unable to respond, his body neither rigid nor limp. After a few painstakingly tense seconds for Adia, she felt herself being enclosed in his strong hold, her body being pressed to his. She could feel his heartbeat, the musical rhythm she missed with all of her mortal soul. It was like a calling to her, letting her know that though she went nowhere, she was home. _This was real, and T'Challa was home. ___

__"Come," she whispered, pulling back from the warmth that wrapped around her. "Follow me."_ _

__He obliged, allowing her to lead them to his chambers. He saw that in his absence, she'd taken up board in his room, her sweet perfumed scent in the air. He adored it. Missed it. She lay down on the large bed, under the silk sheets. Without a hint of shyness, she looked to him and continued to hold the bedding up, obviously expecting him to follow. Once more, he obliged, taking off the suit he donned before joining her. He had forgotten how it felt to hold her in his arms. He needed to remember._ _

__Adia lay her head against his chest, pleased to still hear the steady thumping sound. He was with her again. He was there. Looking up into his brown eyes, she saw the lover she knew was firmly in place. He tilted his head and claimed her lips, savoring in the taste he hadn't had in forever, burying his hands into her thick hair. When he pulled back, she leveled him with a serious stare and told him, "Never leave me again..."_ _

__T'Challa nodded. "If I try, you have permission to get the Dora Milaje to drag me back." How did he survive each day without her by his side? How could he have shut her out so cruelly, as if she did not matter to him? "Never shall I want to put you through what I did ever again."_ _

__Adia made a mental note to get him to sign a contract about that. "I love you, my panther." His heart began to beat faster, a sound that elated Adia to no end._ _

__"And I love you, my gift."_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Adia: "Gift from god," in Swahili.


End file.
